Brazilian MMA fighter Poliana Botelho recently shared on Instagram that she was diagnosed with cancer.
In her Instagram story, she shared the following pictures:
The caption reads:
“One more battle for my life. But this victory will be mine.”
Poliana Botelho
34-year-old Poliana Botelho is a 9-5 MMA fighter who has competed in the UFC, XFC, Invicta, and others. She had trained at the legendary Nova União academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil alongside greats such as Jose Aldo, Renan Barão, and others.
During Botelho’s time in the UFC, she jumped between strawweight and flyweight. In that period she was able to earn wins over fighters such as Lauren Mueller, Syuri Kondo, and Pearl Gonzalez. Most recently, she is coming off of a victory in Invicta over Helen Peralta. Her last bout only being in September of 2022. Professionally, she made her debut in 2013.
In an interview from 2022, Poliana Botelho discussed always working to improve herself. During a UFC media day in June, she said:
“One of the things that I did was also get a mental coach to actually get somebody to work the psychological science, so that’s a change that happened. There were things that they tapped into that go back to childhood. They were able to change, so I understand that there are some vices out there that we need to get over.”
The Brazilian Poliana Botelho has received an outpouring of support from the MMA community around the globe. Journalist Bruno Massami reported on Twitter:
“Former UFC fighter, Invicta’s Poliana Botelho is fighting against câncer. All prays to her get a big W in her life! She make a surgery today and will make a statement soon.”
Former UFC fighter, Invicta's Poliana Botelho is fighting against câncer. All prays to her get a big W in her life!
She make a surgery today and will make a statement soon. pic.twitter.com/K9pjOtnB2V
— Bruno Massami (????? ???????) (@BrMassami) February 11, 2023
